The 2024 Grammys: A Recap
By • February 5, 2024 0 555
The 66th Annual Grammy Awards took place Sunday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, who hosted The Daily Show from 2015 to 2022.
Taylor Swift made history — and turned Swifties downright giddy
In a fitting end to a landmark year for her, Taylor Swift took home her 13th and 14th Grammy awards, for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for her 2022 album “Midnights.” Her win for Album of the Year made her the first artist ever to win the award four times. She’s in good company with those who got the award three times: Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.
During her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, Swift sent her fans into a tizzy. Many thought she’d be announcing the release of her rerecorded album “Reputation,” but instead she announced a new album coming April 19 titled “The Tortured Poet’s Department.” With a name like that, hopefully she’ll start a new generation of creative writers, poets and songwriters.
Tracy Chapman performed for the first time in years
Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car” has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last year, due to country singer Luke Combs singing a version. Combs grew up loving the song and singing it with his father. Post-performance, the song climbed almost immediately to number-one on the iTunes chart.
Miley Cyrus won her Grammys
Cyrus, 31, has been in the business for years and she finally won her first two Grammys, for Record of the Year and Pop Solo Performance, for her song “Flowers.” The song played constantly through summer 2023, and was a response to her breakup with her ex-husband, actor Liam Hemsworth.
Jay-Z accepted the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award alongside his daughter Blue Ivy
Many were startled and reminded of how fast time flies when Jay-Z took the stage to accept the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award (for artists who’ve used their platform to give back past just the musical medium). His daughter, Blue Ivy, seemed all grown up at 12 years old. He joked, saying he used to call the Grammy Awards he received a sippy cup for Blue, but Blue was all grown up now and doesn’t take sippy cups — she also has her own Grammy (she and her mother, Beyoncé, won in 2021 — Blue Ivy at age nine — for Best Music Video for “Brown Skin Girl.”)
Jay-Z also called out the Recording Academy for never awarding his wife Beyoncé Album of the Year. “She has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” he said during this speech. He’s not wrong—Beyoncé has 32 award wins and 88 nominations.
Jay-Z’s appeal also brought to mind the 2009 controversy over Hip-Hop artist Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s Grammy Award acceptance speech for Best Female Video instead of Beyoncé’s “All the Single Ladies.”
Stevie Wonder, Fantasia Barrino, more paid tribute to those we lost last year
Stevie Wonder kicked off the annual “In Memoriam” segment with a tribute to Tony Bennett, who died in July 2023. “I remember hearing Tony Bennett singing ‘For Once in My Life’ when I was like 13 or 14 years old,” he said. “But what’s amazing is I was able to actually sing the song with someone I admired for so long, not just because of his voice, which was incredible, but because of his art, his love of art, his love for peace, his love for unity, his love for civil rights.”
There were also tributes to music executive and film producer Clarence Avant, with medleys of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean on Me,” and “Optimistic” by Lenny Kravitz and Jon Batiste. Finally, after an intro from Oprah, American Idol winner and “The Color Purple” actress Fantasia Barrino, gave a rousing rendition of “Proud Mary” in honor of Tina Turner, who passed away in May of last year.
